Note: The following was first posted in the EC forums in ‘Community’ and under the same title where other responses to it can be found.
The subject of this post is decidedly different from the subjects I typically engage with in the area of personal and spiritual development, but it is for good reason. Please take your time to read this and share your thoughts with me.
In the last few days, I have experienced an avalanche of emails resulting from an initiative by Entrecard founder, Graham. Before I say anything else, I want to say how much I appreciate what Graham has done in creating Entrecard and what he continues to do to support and develop our community as a whole as well its individual members. Frankly, I am thrilled to bits and extremely grateful!
That said, let me return to the subject of this post. The flood of emails I mentioned arrived from Digg as a result of Entrecard members making each other their friends or, if you like the current vernacular, ‘friending’ one another. I believe Graham’s proposed target was 200 friends. At the time of writing, I have 159 friends, which means, I had 159 emails over the last 24 hours.
My purpose for writing this post is mainly to share with you some of the thoughts and feelings that have been part of my experience of receiving and responding to the emails. In particular, I would like to step through some of my thoughts and feelings regarding responding to requests to ‘Digg’ my ‘friends’ posts. I can tell you that it has not been the most straightforward thing I have had to do. Let me explain.
To start with, it was exciting receiving all those emails. After having remained in obscurity for almost two years as an unknown blogger, I was suddenly on people’s radar!
No, they probably hadn’t visited my blog. Nor would they have read any of my posts. Nor would they have particularly cared whether my interests and my blog/s matched their interests or even if they could get interested in what I have to say and offer. But they had my ‘Digg’ name and that was all they needed to ‘friend’ me. As a result, I now have 159 new Digg friends. For someone who has been trying for over a year to gain traffic and who was getting close to none, this sudden swell in my mailbox was exciting even if it felt like it held an empty promise.
Following this initial deluge, there continues a less voluminous yet steady stream of emails requesting me to ‘digg’ the posts of my new ‘friends’. This happens via ‘shouts’:
“So and So has sent you a shout”. The link to my ‘friends’’ post follows and I have been, in almost every instance, dutifully clicking on the link, reading the article description and ‘digging’ it. In some cases, very few I should say, I have been interested enough to read the full article or at least visit the blog.
Now here begins my dilemma. There are posts that I personally would not recommend to others. Why? Well, the reason varies from one post to another but in general the posts are:
- Not of a quality (literarily and content wise) I consider worth promoting (80%)
- Of little or no interest to me particularly when there are so many other things competing for my time and attention (80%)
- Not viewpoints that I would particularly endorse (5%)
However, despite my feelings about these posts, I have gone ahead and ‘dugg’ them. Why? I’ll be very honest. Part of me wants to be nice. I want to accede to my ‘friends’ requests. I want them to feel good that their posts are getting lots of ‘diggs’. I know how much I have wanted my posts to be ‘dugg’ and I know how deflating it can be when I get two ‘diggs’ for a post that I had put so much thought and care into.
But there is another part of me that speaks thus:
Well, what is the object of the exercise here?
If I’ve understood it correctly, we want to help get our fellow Entrecard members on the Digg map so that they can attract more traffic to their blogs. We all want more traffic. I know I do. So, this is how we make it happen. ‘Digg’ your ‘friends’ posts and give them a leg up. If they do the same for you, good. If not, well, at least you’ve helped someone else. When I consider this rationale, I am a little comforted about ‘digging’ something that I would not have otherwise ‘dugg’.
However, the whole exercise has raised questions in my mind. I wonder if Entrecard members and my new ‘friends’, including Graham, would consider them with me?
- · What is the purpose of getting posts ‘dugg’?
- · Does this help us achieve something that we consider worthwhile?
- · What would be a ‘worthwhile’ reason/purpose?
- · What can I expect now that I have made you a friend and ‘dugg’ your post/article?
- · What do you expect from me?
- · Where does Graham see all of this going?
- · Can I realistically expect ongoing and meaningful traffic i.e. visitors who genuinely want to read my posts and engage with me at my blog assuming I continue to write quality content?
- · Do people really care about the quality of content?
My dear Entrecarders, I am feeling somewhat ambivalent about this latest ‘friend and digg me’ initiative despite feeling incredibly enthusiastic about it when it was first proposed. I wonder if any of you are feeling something similar?
I really want this to work and by ‘work’ I mean getting meaningful traffic for quality content that I write. By ‘work’, I also mean ‘digging’ content that I really value.
How do you feel about this?
Please share your thoughts and feelings. I have to say that at the moment, I have a sense that we’ve been overtaken somewhat by gluttony, the effect of which is to ultimately leave us feeling empty even though we might feel filled to bursting just now.
I hope you won’t read this post as a criticism. I don’t see any value in being critical. I do however hope that you read this post as a sincere enquiry from one Entrecard member who really wants success for herself and her community. Perhaps I have misunderstood or missed something? Perhaps there other useful perspectives I have not considered?
Perhaps together, we may be able to talk, think and feel through this rather novel experience (at least it is novel for me) and move towards a more enriching and truly rewarding place for all.
Thank you for your presence in this community and for being my ‘friend’!
Love Always, Lucy
How shall I serve you, my Love?
For Online and Offline Mentoring/Meditation/Workshops/Retreats Contact lucy@lucylopez.net
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It has been a busy few days, it seems to deny the purpose of why we joined in to ignore the numerous shouts – but it is rather forced and unnatural at the moment – a long way from the informal but intuitive selective process that makes Digg worthwhile. I feel there are two different strata of bloggers – those who are serious about trying to earn from it – and those who aren’t. I would not feel comfortable being in the position where I simply had to write something every day – although there are many journalists, writers who do.
But scratching beneath the surface at Digg – it appears there are many undercurrents, factions – I read of “the buriers” the “digg police” – anonymity seems to bring out the worst in some people.
At the end of the day, I suppose the only value in a digg, is in the currency of pride – unless the rise is to the top – in which case it could translate into financial reward with all the traffic.
It’s also about reaching out. But that’s another discussion.
Thought No 2 – We are under no obligation to do anything at digg. OK – we joined in the initiative – perhaps it is no more than an opportunity.
As in all walks of life – some will take advantage of it.
Although all transactions at Digg are free – it nevertheless feels at times like a bit of a “hard sell” going on. As on my front doorstep – if an uninvited caller arrives and tries to sell me something – a service, goods – whatever – I am under no obligation. I evalute the product, together with my own needs, requirements. In the case of Digg the currency is endorsement. It is our personal decision always – that nobody can wrench from our hands. Any sense of obligation devalues the entire system.
As I said previously in response to Graham’s and another EC member’s responses to this post in the EC forums, it is heartening to read these affirmations of what I might call ‘loving principles’. We do what feels good for us, having set our intentions first to that of love. Thanks Tim.
As you suggest, any system will be manipulated by some. I simply assumed that everyone at Entrecard would observe the same principles or at least observe the protocols of ‘good manners’ :-). In that regard, perhaps the word ’shout’ isn’t necessarily the most conducive means of communication :-)
I am not sure though, of the usefulness of thinking of bloggers in terms of your two categories – those who are serious about making money and those who aren’t – at least not *just* in those terms.
There are so many sub-themes/intentions within each that would require further categorisation…not that that’s our purpose here :-).
Just thinking for eg that I would like to make serious money out of blogging/writing, but I am not into every technical aid or marketing strategy to that end. Not yet at any rate! Will I ever? I don’t know. At this point in time, it feels good going at the rate I’m going and perhaps a notch or two higher…
Thanks so much for taking the time to return and post your comments Tim! Lucy
I’m glad you made this post, and here’s my two cents’ worth. I’ve been a digg member, albeit not a very active one, for a while. I READ Digg quite often though.
What I’m seeing is lots of poor quality articles, articles that don’t “fit” into Digg’s niche, etc. being submitted and Dugg. Graham is right, that’s a real problem.
When you digg something, you’re giving it your endorsement, and your user account is a reflection of that. On Digg and other sites like it you build up authority based on the quality of your submissions and diggs, so digging people just to be nice will hurt you in the long run.
Also, digging a bad article isn’t going to help that writer either. The article isn’t going to rise to popularity because it’s bad — it just won’t generate enough diggs AND it’s going to get buried by some users.
My biggest concern though is the impression that we’re giving as a whole. We’ve joined a community, but many entrecarders are showing little or no respect for how that community operates. Despite Graham’s warnings, I fear that many are trying to game the system.
Jo, thank you for your comment. What important points you raise!
I am so pleased that I wrote this post. My original purpose was to sort through my own thoughts and feelings about the exercise of ‘friending and digging’. However, that purpose has expanded to allow others to think and feel through it themselves and to allow all of us to review our purpose and understanding about such ‘community initiatives’ and commit to growing a community that is truly enriching on many levels. For those reasons, if nothing else, the post has been worthwhile.
What is also worthwhile for me is to connect with others, like you, who share and aspire to the great and the good.
I believe that, like anything else, the enduring ‘great and good’ will prevail while the rest will naturally attrition.
Yes,impressions can be damaging but lets not give any more attention/energy to that. Lets direct it instead to what we *do* want – a community of principled, quality bloggers – by being just that ourselves! Woo hoo!
I too have ambivalence about Digg, as I do about the blogging experience itself. If I only wanted to “keep a diary” I could do so in a paper notebook and hide it in my nightstand. I haven’t done that. I have chosen, instead, to put it on the Internet where anyone who wishes, may read it. That is a risk that I take, because someone may not like what I write and send me a comment to that effect. I have come to the conclusion that although I love getting feedback and hearing when people like what I have written–I like it more when I like what I have written. If I reach the point where I don’t like what I write then it really doesn’t matter how many people read my blog or how many people “digg” a particular post. At that point, blogging will lose its appeal.
Also, part of the appeal of blogging for me is to improve. To do that, I find I improve most by reading great posts written by other bloggers. It’s reciprocal in that sense for me. I don’t need for anyone to comment or “digg” me to do that, just write great posts that I can read. Anything else, is icing.
Hey Patricia! Your motivations for blogging are driven by your own standards and desire to improve. That’s great :-)
I believe that for some, if not most, bloggers, getting ‘dugg’ is a way of increasing traffic to their websites. I know that it is one of the reasons I would like to get ‘dugg’.
There is another reason though. I actually believe that I have something useful to offer people in my writing and general approach to life. That is why I work as a mentor.
I love getting feedback because it lets me know how other people are thinking. If they agree with me, I am interested to know why. If they don’t, I am equally interested to know why and to see if there is something that they know or do that I might benefit from. Sometimes, their comments motivate me to explore my own thinking even further.
Keep enjoying what you do Patricia. That’s the main thing! Lucy